Saturday morning I was in a discussion group where one of the members told of how her sister recently returned from mission work in Uganda. My friend told of a scene that her sister had witnessed, of a child of only one year of age, dying of starvation. This child was being cared for by his five-year-old brother, because the parents had both died. Imagine - a five-year-old, who doesn't really know how to care for himself, taking the responsibility for caring for a child who can barely express his or her needs!

My friend also posted a video of two children, Esther and her older brother Sam, age seven. When the mission crew came upon Esther and Sam, the two children were on the ground, on their bellies. Their bodies showed obvious signs of starvation, and they appeared to have been abandoned. As the missionaries were taking in the sight, wondering what they should do, the children's older sister Jane, only eight years old, came from out of the bush, returning from walking miles to get water to bathe her two younger siblings. Esther and Sam were not only severely malnourished, but they also had polio and could not walk. Jane had to lift Sam to the basin of water, bathe him with whatever soap she had - I'm sure it was not Mr. Bubble - and then lift him out of the water and carry him to a mat where he could dry off. Jane then repeated the process with Esther. (The end of the video tells us that Esther, Sam and Jane are receiving proper care. And Jane is in an environment where she can just be a kid.)

These two accounts tell of the very essence of servanthood. They tell of children - who should be spending their days playing - caring for the basic needs of someone else. Even though they don't necessarily know how to care, they care the best they can.

This makes me take a look at how I viewed "service": Take an idea. Form a committee. Make a plan. Get trained-up. Take a stab at it.